February 2020 will once again see the marking of UK Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans (LGBT) History Month at the University of Nottingham.

This year’s LGBT History Month will take place from Saturday 1 February to Saturday 29 February.

As in previous years, a variety of events will take place around the University during LGBT History Month. These are free to attend and open to everyone.

Our events programme includes:

Film Screening/Q&A: The Watermelon Woman by Cheryl Dunye
Thursday 6 February, 6.30pm-8.30pm
A30 Lecture Theatre, Arts Centre
Event link: https://watermelonwoman.eventbrite.co.uk
Please note: This film contains scenes of a sexual nature, which some viewers may find disturbing. Attendees must be aged 18 or over

The Watermelon Woman is set in the ’90s and was made in 1996 in the days when video shops were popular and most people had a video recorder and played VHS videos. The film’s main Character is called Cheryl (played by Cheryl Dunye) who is a young black film-maker and works in a video hire shop with her friend Tamara. Cheryl takes an interest in black actresses from the 1930s and notices that they are often not in the credits and stereotypically are given the role of a servant. Cheryl investigates further why one particular actress (Fae) has only made one film. Her research leads Cheryl to think this actress might have been a lesbian. As well as her investigation, Cheryl meets a white woman called Diana, in the store, who flirts with Cheryl.  They have an affair and Tamara accuses Cheryl of wanting to be white.

Lecture and workshop: Decolonising queer spaces (in collaboration with UoNSU BME network)
Tuesday 11 February, 5.30pm-7.30pm
A17, Pope Building, University Park

Presented by Sara Khan (Access and Liberation Officer for the University of Manchester Students’ Union), this workshop is an interactive interrogation into colonalism and its’ influence on queer experiences. By thinking about positionality, we come to conclusions on how to build anti-racist, liberatory queer spaces with a focus on decolonisation.

Documentary Screening/Q&A with Angela Cooper
Invisible Women
Thursday 13 February, 6.30pm-8.30pm
A30 Lecture Theatre, Arts Centre
Event link: https://invisiblewomennottm.eventbrite.co.uk

Invisible Women is a short documentary that will tell the untold story of the North West’s LGBTQ past over the last 50 years through the lens of two women’s incredible journey of activism and rebellion. Angela Cooper and Luchia Fitzgerald have spent the last half a century fighting for their rights as women and as lesbians. Their work has revolutionised Manchester whilst transforming the lives of thousands of women and yet no record of them exists in the city’s archives; theirs is a story that risks disappearing from history.

Lecture/presentation and Q&A:
Cultures, Identities, Sexualities: what makes for an inclusive Higher Education space? A conversation for LGBT History Month with Dr Max Biddulph
Friday 14 February, 12.30pm-2.00pm
Room A33, Food Sciences Lecture Room, Sutton Bonington
Event link: https://cultures-identities-sexualities.eventbrite.co.uk

Reporting in 2018, Universities UK note that Higher Education in the UK has experienced consistent growth over the last decade with a change in the staff/student demographic to becoming progressively internationalized. In a parallel review, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA, 2017) note the polarization of attitudes towards gender and sexual minorities globally, with 72 countries criminalising same sex relations. What happens when this collision of people, faith, cultural diversity, values and attitudes inhabits the same higher education space? How can everyone get on and feel included?

Lecture/presentation and Q&A:
“This is who I am” by Ice and Fire – Organised by STAR
Monday 17 February, 6.30pm-9.30pm
Nottingham New Theatre, Cherry Tree Hill, University Park
Free drop-in session

Read by performers, “This Is Who I Am” interweaves first-hand accounts of LGBT+ people’s experiences of the UK asylum process. The reading will be followed by a Q&A discussion panel and a couple of short talks from charities working with refugees in Nottingham.

Lecture/presentation and Q&A:
An insight into non-binary experiences, with special guest speakers
Tuesday 18 February, 5.30pm-7.30pm
A17, Pope Building, University Park

Dex Grodner and Jezza Donovan from Gendered Intelligence join us to discuss gender diversity and their experiences. This venue is wheel-chair accessible.

Lecture/presentation and Q&A:
Queer in Academia: Defying expectations, with special guest panellists
Tuesday 25 February, 5.30pm-7.30pm
A17, Pope Building, University Park

How do you make it in academia as a queer individual? Several academics from various disciplines share their narratives of how they navigate Higher Education.
Special guest panellists including:

• Dr. Charlie Wand (Research Associate at The University of Manchester)
• Dr. Hannah Robbins (Associate Professor of Music at The University of Nottingham)
• Penny CS Andrews (Ph.D. Student at The University of Sheffield)
• Martina Astrid Rodda (DPhil in Classical Languages and Literature at The University of Oxford)
• Eleanor Louise West (Queer Art Theorist)

Lecture/presentation and Q&A:
50 years of LGBT+ issues in Education: An Autoethnographic Retrospective
Thursday 27 February, 6.30pm-8.00pm
Room A30, Lecture Theatre, Arts Centre
Event link: https://50-years-of-lgbt-issues-in-education.eventbrite.co.uk

In the final year of a career spanning more than 40 years in education, Max Biddulph uses autoethnography to link ‘the personal’ with ‘the political’ and ‘the cultural’ to trace the evolving story of LGBT+ issues and their intersection with education.

Lecture/presentation and Q&A:
Art and History: A creative exploration of identity
Friday 28 February, 2pm-4pm
Studio Live, University Park
Free drop-in session

Join your LGBT+ Network Campaign Managers Aleck and Maxime for our final event for LGBT+ History Month, where they’ll discuss various topics within LGBT+ History, followed by an arts and crafts creative workshop.

Share your recommended reads
Do you have a favourite book that explores the diversity of the LGBT experience and community? Share it with Libraries before Saturday 29 February to help build a reading list that explores LGBT history and culture. Any suggested titles not currently in our library collections will be considered for purchase.

Rainbow Road Openings
Sam Hawkins (UoNSU LGBT+ Officer) will open the Rainbow Roads, his campaign for LGBT+ visibility and representation across the various campuses at the University of Nottingham. Find out more.

Writing Diversely workshop
Join University of Nottingham Libraries on Monday 24 February, 5 – 6pm for a free workshop on Writing Diversely.

This practical workshop is a fantastic opportunity for budding writers to explore the core concepts of diversity in writing, discuss the importance of making work inclusive and begin to research and write their own diverse piece of fiction.

The workshop will be presented by twice Carnegie-nominated Young Adult author and University of Nottingham alumna, Lauren James. Lauren’s first book, The Last Beginning was named one of the best LGBT-inclusive works for young adults by the Independent. Lauren also teaches creative writing for Coventry University, WriteMentor, and Writing West Midlands.

Tickets for the event are free and are open to all students and staff. Book your ticket now.

Learn more about our work around Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.